1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a combination holder and battery charger for a battery operated home appliance such as, for example, a rechargeable electric shaver, a rechargeable hair curler, a rechargeable toothbrush and a battery operated skin cleaner of a kind that requires, or is combined with, a combination holder and battery charger.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The battery operated home appliances of a kind referred to above includes at least one built-in storage battery that requires an occasional charging to electrically recharge it. A battery charger for reenergize the built-in storage battery available either in combination therewith or as an optional item is designed to concurrently serves as a holder for supporting or holding the elongated home appliance while the latter is not in use and/or being recharged.
In recent years, some of the battery operated home appliances are being manufactured with their size reduced, and the combination holder and battery charger for use therewith is correspondingly downsized for convenience of transportation from place to place. When the combination holder and battery charger is made compact and compact, the surface area of the bottom thereof decreases correspondingly. Hence, the smaller the combination holder and battery charger is, the more unstable it is on a supporting surface, for example, a desk top or a shelf when the home appliance is placed thereon. Considering that most of the battery operated home appliances are of a generally elongated configuration, exemplified by, for example, the electric shaver, placement of the electric appliance in an upright position on the combination holder and battery charger makes the assembly top-heavy enough to overturn the assembly.
In order to secure the stability of the combination holder and battery charger, it is necessary to fit a separate support element to the combination holder and battery charger and/or to modify the shape of the bottom of the combination holder and battery charger to increase the surface area thereof. These attempts, however, is in contradiction to downsizing. The use of the separate support element appears not to be wise in that the user would be forced to carry the separate support element together with the assembly with the electric appliance retained in the combination holder and battery charger.
Another problem arising from downsizing of the combination holder and battery charger is found in difficulty in snugly and neatly accommodating an electric wire which extends outwardly from a charger unit built in the combination holder and battery charger for electric connection with a domestic power outlet. As is well known to those skilled in the art, one end of the electric wire remote from the charger unit and, hence, the combination holder and battery charger has a plug secured thereto, which plug has two or three plug pin or blades for insertion into corresponding socket slots of the domestic power outlet. Unless care is taken, the plug pins or blades may give rise to damage to the surface finish of a housing of either the electric appliance or the combination holder and battery charger.
The combination holder and battery charger is known which includes, in addition to the charger unit, a foldable holder slidable relative to a housing between folded and operative positions and a plate fixture for securement of the combination holder and battery charger to a wall surface with the use of fastening elements such as screws or nails. The holder includes an embracing frame which, when, for example, the elongated electric shaver is placed onto the combination holder and battery charger while the holder is in the operative position, embraces the electric shaver to retain it in an upright position to avoid overturn or fall of the electric shaver. On the other hand, when the holder is in the folded position, the combination holder and battery charger represents a generally rectangular box-like configuration, compact in size with no substantial projection which would otherwise represented by the holder in the operative position.
The combination holder and battery charger of a type utilizing the plate fixture requires a mounting structure exposed to the outside of the housing for accommodating the plate fixture and, therefore, lacks a pleasing appearance. By way of example, where the plate fixture prior to being secured to the wall surface is fitted to the housing of the combination holder and battery charger by the use of slide grooves formed in the housing and cooperating slide rails formed in the plate fixture, the slide rails tend to be exposed to the outside of the housing, resulting in degradation of the aesthetic appearance.
Also, when the electric appliance is placed on and held by the combination holder and battery charger, the electric appliances imposes a load on the embracing frame and, therefore, the holder tends to be slid downwardly, failing to hold the electric appliance stably.
In view of those disadvantages and inconveniences found in the prior art combination holder and battery chargers, the present invention is intended to provide a combination holder and battery charger for a battery operated home appliance which is effective to hold the electric appliance stably with no need to use any separate support element and/or to modify the bottom thereof to increase the surface area.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the combination holder and battery charger of the type discussed above wherein no mounting structure is exposed to the outside and which is effective to hold the electric appliance without allowing the embracing frame to be inadvertently slid downwardly.
In order to accomplish these and other objects and features of the present invention, there is, in accordance with one aspect thereof, provided a combination holder and battery charger for holding a battery operated electric appliance and also for recharging the battery in the electric appliance. The combined holder and charger includes a housing having top and bottom surfaces opposite to each other. A holder is mounted on the housing for sliding movement between a folded position and an operative positions in which the holder holds the electric appliance relative to the housing during recharging of the electric appliance. An auxiliary base stand is operatively disposed on the bottom surface of the housing and capable of assuming one of first and second states. This auxiliary base stand when in the first position has at least a portion thereof protruding laterally outwardly from a contour of the bottom surface of the housing, but that portion of the auxiliary base stand to enable the combination holder and battery charger to be supported stably on a support surface.
Preferably, the auxiliary base stand is pivotally connected to the bottom surface of the housing by means of a bearing boss for pivotal movement between the first and second positions.
The holder preferably includes a holder plate and a slide plate lying perpendicular to the holder plate so that when the holder moves between the folded and operative positions, the slide plate can slide along a surface of the housing lying perpendicular to any one of the top and bottom surfaces thereof. A portion of the auxiliary base stand which aligns with a lower end of the slide plate when the auxiliary base stand is in the second position is preferably depleted to define an access recess.
If a camming rib is mounted on the auxiliary base stand, the holder can be driven at least from the folded position towards the operative position automatically in response to movement of the auxiliary base stand from the second position towards the first position. In place of the camming rib, a geared transmission mechanism may be employed for transmitting movement of the auxiliary base stand between the first and second positions to the holder to thereby drive the holder between the folded and operative positions.
In any event, the auxiliary base stand is preferably made up of a plurality of base plates. Using a gear mechanism such as a pinion-and-rack or a gear train, the base plates may be designed to be driven in unison with each: other in a plane parallel to the bottom surface of the housing.
Preferably, the auxiliary base stand is provided with a cable retainer for retaining an electric cable of the electric appliance when the auxiliary base stand is in the second position. This cable retainer may be mounted on the auxiliary base stand for pivotal movement between folded and erected positions, or may include a plurality of retainer segments pivotally connected in series with each other. Also, the cable retainer may provided with a plug constraint for holding a plurality of plug elements of an electric connector plug of the electric appliance.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the combination holder and battery charger may include a wall attachment adapted to allow the combination holder and battery charger to be hung on and supported by a support wall. Where the wall attachment is employed, the auxiliary base stand may be dispensed with if so desired.
Where the wall attachment is employed, this wall attachment plate should be provided with guide rails slidingly engageable in the associated slide groove in the housing that are used to accommodate the holder for movement between the folded and operative positions.
In any event, these and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the subsequent description made in connection with some preferred embodiments thereof.